Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (LINKS)

Helping Indigenous Peoples and local communities study and articulate the importance of their knowledge systems, and fostering transdisciplinary knowledge cooperation.

LINKS was founded as an intersectoral initiative in 2002, and has proceeded to inform and facilitate exchanges between the holders of Indigenous and local knowledge with science policy and environmental policy processes, international norms and standards, and the emergence of transdisciplinary knowledge cooperation.

Here you will find information on our main areas of policy intervention, our technical cooperation with IPBES and BES-Net, and the geographic regions where we are engaged.

LINKS is responsible for coordination on the .

UNESCO policy on engaging with Indigenous Peoples

UNESCO

2018

"I grew up in an oasis

here in Chad. We watched the insects, the sky and the plants to know when the rain would come. It was only when I saw the work of LINKS that I realised how important Indigenous knowledge is to help us understand climate change and support national adaptation."

– HE Sidick Abdelkérim Hagar, former Minister of the Environment of Water and Fisheries, Republic of Chad

Photo by Jeremy Cai on Unsplash

LINKS supports the participation of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in multilateral mechanisms, including in several of the UN decades.

Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems programme: 20 years of collaboration

This video showcases UNESCO's commitment to transdisciplinary approaches for recognizing and safeguarding the knowledge of indigenous and local communities. It emphasizes the need for collaboration across various disciplines, to ensure that this knowledge is appropriately valued and taken into account into sustainable practices and policies.

This videos celebrates the 20th anniversary of the UNESCO Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems programme.